Pittsburgh Penguins forward Joe Vitale received an interference minor due to a knee-on-knee collision with Columbus’ Blake Comeau, but that might be the least of his worries.

Both forwards went down as a result of the hit, but Comeau has since returned while Vitale has not.

You can see what happened below:

It’s hard to say if Vitale was out for revenge after Comeau delivered a crushing hit just prior. Pittsburgh also lost Brandon Sutter on a separate play, so this is turning into a potentially costly game for the Penguins, regardless of what the final score is.

I would agree if Vitale was a dirty player. The dude has a deep history of overcoming obstacles to play in the NHL. He is a very respectable and clean player. Hate to burst your hate bubble, but stop being ignorant.

matt14gg - Apr 28, 2014 at 9:47 PM

Hey Matt Cooke defenders, that is what an unintentional knee-on-knee hit looks like.

buckeye044 - Apr 28, 2014 at 9:51 PM

please. that is every bit as bad as Cooke’s. he didn’t like being checked hard and tried to get his revenge.

Does that picture look at ALL like Vitale is trying to check him to you?

If it does, have you ever actually checked anyone?

And if so, can you still walk?

esracerx46 - Apr 28, 2014 at 9:52 PM

The boos from the blue jackets fans were warranted. Will someone tell Pierre to stop talking? That whole sequence there was putrid. From the hit on Bennet to the penalty call, everything was just a fail.

Totally. Pierre said both Comeau’s and Vitale’s legs were extended. Only Vitale’s was. Pierre is such a Pens homer. And while normally I don’t like it when people boo an injured player, Vitale looked to have done this on purpose and got injured as a result.

That makes perfect sense. Especially you can tell by the way it looks like Vitale is trying to avoid contact and skate around him, while Comeau is leaning in, and the way Vitale isn’t even looking at Comeau, but rather looking at where he’s trying to skate to. Extending your leg in order to move laterally is not dirty. Nor was Comeau’s hit, by any means.

umm, should have been a penalty on Comeau, Vitale was going to the puck Comeau was getting in his way. I don’t think either had any intention son the knee, Vitale was looking at Wisniewski with the puck. Comeau probably just meant to rub him out a little but because Vitale was turning his leg was out.

And Comeau had a perfectly clean hit, and it was on Bennett not Vitale, so I don’t know what you are talking about there

They both turned into each other…. If you wanna see a dirty hit just go look at the Cooke hit on Barrie.

notmrknowitall - Apr 29, 2014 at 12:27 AM

he was upset at being hit…he dragged his knee on an attempted cheapshot…I hope he as a torn ACL. He deserves it.

tsi431 - Apr 29, 2014 at 6:56 AM

Vitale never got hit by Comeau, that was a hit on Bennett, did you even watch the game? Vitale was going to play the puck which was turned around from one side of the net to the other.

If you skate you know exactly what occured. The puck was played by a CBJ player and changed directions. Vitale planted his right foot to change directions also. There shouldn’t of been a penalty on either, 100% incidental.